Heading Home
by Adam Black
Summary: When a hero loses someone close to him, his world starts to fall apart. Lost in self-doubt and anger, he takes a step into the unknown and forges a new path for himself, one that will eventually take him home.
1. Chapter 1

Updated 06/01/13. Hey everyone, This story used to be called 'To Rome and back Again'. I hope you enjoy it.

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Heading Home

Loss is a funny thing, it can make you realize something you knew all along, but were too afraid to admit it, even to yourself. It can make you do insane and yet great things. It can even fuel the fire of determination, forcing the one feeling it to live on, to an even greater standard.

Despite this, we view it as a tragedy, despite the fact that loss is as natural a part of life as the air we breathe, and the dirt beneath our boots. But I guess that doesn't matter to you, since to you, this tale of mine is nothing more than a fiction. This is the story of my loss, of simply standing back up.

As clichéd as this introduction may be; my name is Perseus Jackson. Make sure you remember that, because one day, the person I'm stopping from becoming monster fast food, may well be you.

Chapter 1: for Maintenance and Suicidal Demigods

Scrap metal swayed and shifted under my weight, this was seriously starting to get annoying. What should have been a five minute walk around the ten pillars of creepiness, was turning into a slip 'n slide adventure. Don't get me wrong, I would love it if it was water I was slipping on, but no, it was the hills of scrap shit that the gods couldn't be bothered to recycle.

We were on quest, both to save the maiden goddess Artemis and to save one of my best friends: Annabeth. I'm not going to lie, I didn't force my way onto this quest to save an ungrateful Goddess who probably thinks I would be better off as jackalope. I was here to save Annabeth before that traitor Luke got fed up with her, like he did with all of us.

I slid down the last scrap metal hill, the others close behind me. Also on the quest with me was: Bianca, a recently "converted" hunter; Zoe, lieutenant of the hunt; lastly my other two best friends Thalia, a demigod daughter of Zeus and Grover the half goat.

"We made it out," Zoe muttered loudly. "Thank the gods." The gods have a way of sometimes making it as hard as possible for people to actually like or force themselves to respect them. This was one of those moments.

Behind us, the screech of metal on metal filled the air. Like the entire junkyard had been engulfed in a trash compactor. Twisting around, I saw my aptly named pillars of creepiness crash to the ground, a mechanical behemoth rising up behind them.

The _thing_ was amazingly tall. At, at least the same height as a skyscraper its arm alone was taller than my apartment building. It, or _he,_ glared down on us with its deformed face. Even though its face was half melted off, it was still pretty damn scary. Scrawled across his metallically ripped chest in thick dust was the words: "WASH ME"

"Talos..." Zoe whispered in awe.

"Oh no… no, no, no, no, no." Thalia muttered. "This is not good."

"Oh gee, ya think?" I replied, Thalia glared back at me. I ignored it. "Who's this 'Talos' and how do we beat him?"

_"It_ is one of Lord Hephaestus' greatest creations." Zoe said. "But that one is too small, it must've been one of the failed first attempts."

The 'failed' attempt opened its mouth and let out a deafening roar. I quickly covered my ears but the others weren't so quick. Grover fell to his knees; his mouth open in a scream of pain, the noise must've been murder on his enhanced senses.

The giant's mouth clamped shut; I let myself believe that it was over for about half a second, until it drew its sword.

The screech of metal against metal filled my ears, reminding me painfully of my nightmares about a certain Titan of Time. When it emerged from the sheath, I could see that the blade itself was at least 30 feet long.

"Someone mind telling me what the Hades is it doing here then!?" I asked.

"Lord Hephaestus must've put it here to guard his…" Thalia begun before her eyes widened. "Somebody took something, who was it?"

Zoe automatically snapped her head in my direction. I backed up slightly, shaking my head.

"I may be a lot of things, but I'm not a thief."

The others didn't say anything but I saw Bianca fidgeting with something in her pocket, looking guilty. _She's the thief._

At that moment, it didn't matter; Talos advanced. One stride from him shook the ground and covered half the distance between us.

Grover didn't even hesitate; he turned on his heels and ran with us close behind him. It wasn't a bad idea, there was no way we could fight that thing. Then again, it wasn't a good idea either, that thing could outdistance us by walking. We were basically screwed either way.

We broke off in different directions, like we did with the Nemean Lion. Even as we ran, Zoe shot arrow after arrow at the Talos prototype, though all of them shatter harmlessly against its celestial bronze skin.

I drew riptide and saw Thalia and Bianca draw their weapons as well. The giant swung his sword, taking out a good chunk of the road and sending us diving for cover. Debris scattered everywhere as I hid behind an broken war chariot, another blow shook me to the bone and Bianca dived behind the chariot as well.

Bianca looked at me a little surprised, before her expression turned grim. "Any ideas?" Had it been any other time, I would have laughed. But right now, I was as desperate as she was.

I peeked around the edge of the chariot in time to see Thalia call down an arc of lightning at the giant. The bolt slammed into the back of its knee, crippling it. The Talos prototype crashed to the ground, but started to get up just as quick. _Dammit._

The Giant swung his sword as he rose, taking out the mound of scrap metal Grover was balancing on. Grover disappeared in the debris.

Anger rose up from my gut, like it did the night I fought the minotaur, only steadier and more forceful. The reinforced outsides of the chariot started to shatter under my grip.

"Percy...?" Bianca asked, her tone etched with worry. "Percy, what are you-"

"-Keeping you safe. After all, I promised Nico." I finished. I pulled myself over the chariot and charged the Talos prototype. Dodging debris from its strikes, I uncapped riptide, flipped it into a backwards and turned my run into a full-on sprint. The ground underneath me cracked open as the Giant's weight crushed the ground. I used it as spring board and flipped onto the giants leg.

Riptide slammed into the its kneecap before I could even process what I had just done. Gripping it with both hands, I held on as the giant staggered back. It fell onto one knee and I swung myself onto the top of its knee. Pulling Riptide out, I started running up the leg, slashing everything I could as I went.

The celestial bronze made as well have been butter as far as Riptide was concerned, it sliced through the bronze like it was nothing, leaving ribbons of bronze in the place of its hollow upper leg. Talos roared in outrage, his own sword came down on the leg behind me. The blade may not have been sharp, but it still crushed the already damaged leg like a pancake.

The stupid thing's own weight did the rest, what was left of its lower thigh started the groan under the increased strain of supporting its own weight. I kept slashing my way up the leg until I reached the top and caught a hold of the bottom of its body armour.

The leg gave way and Talos tipped over, I lost my grip on the armour and fell. My left hand shot out and caught a hold of the first thing that I could; one of the remaining ribbons of bronze. Chaos ensued, by the time I could see which was up and which way was down, I was tangled in ladder in an unfamiliar space.

Riptide was still in my hands and I could still move. Looking down, I saw the tunnel drop away in sinews of tore metal. Gashes ran up what side of the tunnel. I was inside its leg.

Talos roared and began to shift, even in the state it was in it could still do some major damage to my friends. _I have to end this._

Putting one in hand in front of the other I began to climb the ladder to gods knows where. I reached a manhole, scrawled across it in ancient Greek was: 'For maintenance only'. I pushed it up and pulled myself into a room tipped on its side, lit only by the LED screens spread across it.

I dropped onto the screens and felt the growing hum of Riptide in my hands. I knew what it wanted. Flipping it in a double backwards grip I raised it above my head. _'Dad, help me'_

Riptide cut through the screens and outer walls like they were nothing. Two words escaped my mouth and the world went dark around me.

"Rip Tide!"


	2. Chapter 2

It's been too long since I updated this one... well hopefully you'll all enjoy it, even if it is a little short.

**Roxanne's Diary:** Personally, I hated it. It didn't do the plan in my head justice, which is also probably why I abandoned it after one chapter. But if its as good as you say, I hope this chapter does your expectations justice._  
_

**Anonemuss14: **Sorry about that scatter-brainedness, it was necessary contrast material for later and if you could see exactly what's about to happen next, then this story wouldn't be one of mine would it?

**Avardsin: **Close, but no dice. My way is a lot more fun.

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Chapter 2: Getting up in Time for Breakfast

"Annabeth..." I croaked, struggling against my own vocal chords. "I thought you wer-" My words caught in my throat, it wasn't Annabeth. The shadow flickered and shifted, filling my vision; instinctively my body flinched inwards, bringing a new wave of pain forth. I felt myself slip out of consciousness, leaving my body and pains behind. I welcomed that feeling, relishing in the relief it brought. I let my eyes close.

The lack of feeling didn't last; my nerves tingled all over like I was surrounded water, pushing me up through a seemingly limitless body of water.

Slowly I opened my eyes to nothingness; no light shimmered from above, only sheer blackness. No sooner had I came to realisation; light flooded my eyes, momentarily blinding me. I blinked back against the sudden bright light and gradually my eyesight adjusted and fuzzy images started to fill my vision.

The images were blurry, out of focus and soundless, but I still managed to make sense of a few: A group of men, fused by the waist to the necks of horses, blurred through busy city streets; a boy stood alone against a man radiating pure shadow from a throne of bones; two people, a boy and a girl, made their way by torchlight through a twisting mountain path to a giant palace, wreathed and hidden in clouds.

Gradually the images sped up to a point I couldn't even follow them anymore. That was when a cry tore through the silence of my watery cocoon: It was distant and distorted, like I was underwater and whoever's voice called was above it.

"PERCY!" It cried out a second time, this time it was closer, and defiantly not distorted. I frantically looked for its source. I still couldn't tell whose voice it was but, it was calling for me and it sounded panicked, in trouble even, I _had_ to answer it.

"Percy..." The voice came again, but it sounded more... broken this time. "Why? Why don't you answer me?" My chest clenched, this time I recognised it; it was Annabeth. _"Why won't you help me?"_

The strain in my chest tightened; I struggled in my watery prison. But, with every movement, the pain came flooding back to me, overwhelming me. The more I struggled the more pain layered on top of me until it was unbearable, clouding my mind under its smothering layers. This time though there was no blackness to retreat to, only a way to make it stop.

Gradually I stopped struggling and pulled into myself. The pain slowly retreated from my mind, leaving me with just a memory of the pain. Slowly my mind unfogged and I realised I couldn't leave here, I couldn't help. _I come this far just to get trapped like this._ I thought to myself angrily._ Some hero I am..._

_ But just like this, it's fine... right?_ Another part of me reasoned._ Thals, Grover, Zoe, Bianca. They'll do what I couldn't. They'll rescue Annabeth, won't they? So, just as it is, I've done my part… I can rest._

That thought almost brought a smile to my face; there would be no great prophecy involving me, no war and no pain... just peace.

**"You're right."** Someone's voice washed over me, flooding every part of my body and all my senses. **"You could just leave it here. You could live in this little pain-free bubble you've made yourself. You could rest till the end of your mortal years and do nothing." **I strained to find the source of the voice, but it was like the water all around me itself was talking. What it was saying wasn't even making any sense, I didn't make this place, _it's my prison…_

** "Is that what you truly believe, or are you just afraid of standing up and facing the pain?"**

_That's…_

"**The truth." **The voice filled in. I still couldn't see him, or pinpoint his voice. But it was strange; I _knew_ that he was right in front me. It was like he was a god; just by standing there, his presence was crushing me. _**"So stand up,**_** it's pathetic seeing you like this."**

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I bolted upright, gasping for breath as my eyes blinked open and at first I couldn't see anything. blinking some more, blurry waves of colour started to make up the world around me. This time, no pain came.

One by one, my senses returned and I realised I was completely submerged, lying on the bank of LCD monitors I had seen earlier. They were unsurprisingly broken, flickered on and off, producing the waves of colourful light in the water.

Ignoring their stiffness, I gave all my limbs a quick jerk to make sure they weren't trapped or damaged. Satisfied, I pushed myself up, kicking my legs and swimming to what I hoped was the surface. Sounds like a heavy patter of rain against metal grew as I shot myself forward, going up into a section of the robot I hadn't even see before. Kicking past what I assumed was its shoulder joint, I saw blurry flashes of bluish light that weren't coming from the robot. Continuing in that direction, I burst to the surface to a sight I didn't ever expect.

Lightning, unbelievably thick and bright ripped the sky apart, quickly followed by thunder that literally shook the earth. Rain poured down in torrents, turning the desert into marshland. The sky itself was covered in clouds blacker than I had ever seen and that was saying something, I had been there when Zeus had been at the height of his anger. _What could have pissed him off so much this time? Was that the cause of this rain?_

No, the rain seemed to be helping me. Even now, I could feel its cool hand replenishing my energy. It was like this rain was here just for me. My eyes widened as I quickly pieced everything together. _One shall be lost in a land without rain._ It was so obvious, I was literally standing right in the middle of a desert. This _was_ the land without rain and I was the one that was lost. Which was probably also why I wasn't dead, because I couldn't be lost according to the prophecy if this wasn't a land without rain. If that was the case, did my father cause the rain? Did he even care enough? One look at the sky gave me my answer, Zeus was pissed, and it was not just because I was alive.

I swam to the edge of the makeshift opening in the giant. Water overflowed continuously, making a waterfall to the ground. Normally that would have been fine, but the automaton had fallen on its side, making the ground at least forty feet below. I decided to risk it, I slipped over the side and kept in the slight water fall praying to anyone that the water would protect me.

I landed and fell into a crouch. Like with the arch, the water had shielded my landing, even if it was just a few inches deep. Standing, I surveyed my surroundings, I needed to find a town or something. Lightning lit up the world and I briefly saw the mountains that I had come from, so that was east. East would be good right now, civilization, food, _home..._

I briefly debated whether to go back to Gila Claw, maybe even join up with the others. I quickly dismissed the idea, there was nothing there apart from abandoned buildings. The others must have left already, Thalia wouldn't waste time like that, she would get the job done first. No, I would head east, get home and hope the others succeeded on the quest.

With that thought in mind I pulled my foot out of the marshy ground and took off in the direction of the mountain. It may have just been my imagination, but I could have sworn with each step it got easier to walk forward.


End file.
